"You're welcome," he said, the polite reply easy due to practice rather than true disposition. 47 paused on the beach as he once again picked up his discarded shirt and, uncharacteristically careful, added, "You do good learning tasks quickly and, for the most part, efficiently."

Why he said the encouraging statement was honestly beyond him. Though in the back of his mind he remembered a restricted place where the doctors monitored constantly and experimented between brutal encouragement and more kind methods. There was power in telling someone they were good at something. Tell it to them long enough and they became confident, capable, deadly.

47 didn't linger after his final words were spoken. He walked away to join another section of the festivities and blend in elsewhere.